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Four Fun Grilled Cheeses

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This post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes, Inc. Check out their full line of products including the Land O Lakes® Deli American I used for this recipe. Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram for more great recipes!

I’ve long defended American cheese as the ultimate cheese for some uses. Specifically though, GRILLED CHEESES! Sure, you can put fancy cheeses in a grilled cheese, I guess, but American cheese is always a winner and you know exactly what you’re getting (deliciousness).

But, of course, grilled cheeses can include more than just cheese. I’ve been experimenting with a whole bunch of different fillings recently and thought I’d show you four super fun (and easy) variations on a classic grilled cheese. The nice thing is that all of these can be made very quickly and each sandwich only has two ingredients besides cheese!

Once my sandwiches are made, I cooked all of these the same. I use a little melted butter in a medium-low skillet (or griddle). Flip the sandwich to coat both sides in butter and then let it get golden brown and delicious on both sides!

Directions

1) Drain artichoke hearts from can (I prefer the ones in water over the ones in oil for this recipe). Roughly chop a few of them.

2) In a small skillet, add 1 cup of packed baby spinach and a drizzle of water. Cook until spinach is wilted. Season with a pinch of salt.

3) Stir spinach in with chopped artichokes.

4) Make grilled cheeses by ripping up a thick slice of Land O Lakes® Deli American (I prefer white for this recipe, but yellow will work also). Distribute cheese evenly over bread. Top with a few tablespoons of the artichoke and spinach mixture.

Top filling with half a slice of Land O Lakes® Deli American. Rip it up to evenly distribute.

5) Melt about a tablespoon of unsalted butter in a small skillet or a griddle over medium-low heat. Add sandwich and flip to coat both sides in melted butter. Then let cook for 3-4 minutes per side until the bread is nicely browned and cheese is melted.

6) Serve while warm!

This is basically a riff on spinach artichoke dip in grilled cheese form! If you love the dip, you’ll love the grilled cheese.

For the spinach part, I like to use fresh spinach and wilt it quickly in a skillet, but you could also use frozen spinach. If you do that, be sure to press out as much liquid as possible from the spinach so it doesn’t make your sandwich soggy.

Ingredients

Directions

1) Drain pineapple and chop. Then dry with a few paper towels to remove any extra liquid from the pineapple. Mix together with diced ham.

2) Make grilled cheeses by ripping up a thick slice of Land O Lakes® Deli American (I prefer white for this recipe, but yellow will work also). Distribute cheese evenly over bread. Top with a few spoon fulls of the ham and pineapple mixture.

Top filling with half a slice of Land O Lakes® Deli American. Rip it up to evenly distribute.

3) Melt about a tablespoon of unsalted butter in a small skillet or a griddle over medium-low heat. Add sandwich and flip to coat both sides in melted butter. Then let cook for 3-4 minutes per side until the bread is nicely browned and cheese is melted.

4) Serve while warm!

I was sort of surprised how much I liked this version. I don’t love Hawaiian pizza, but the flavor combo worked well for me in a grilled cheese. It was slightly sweet, but also salty which is always a good mix.

The key here is to make sure to dry off the pineapple as much as possible to get out as much juice as possible from it. I really pressed on mine with some paper towels to get off as much liquid as possible.

Ingredients

Directions

1) Drain pimento peppers from can. Dry them well with a few paper towels.

2) Stir pimentos together with a few chopped pickled jalapenos (depending on how spicy you want it).

3) Make grilled cheeses by ripping up a thick slice of Land O Lakes® Deli American (I prefer yellow for this recipe, but white will work also). Distribute cheese evenly over bread. Top with a few spoon fulls of the spicy pimento mixture.

Top filling with half a slice of Land O Lakes® Deli American. Rip it up to evenly distribute.

4) Melt about a tablespoon of unsalted butter in a small skillet or a griddle over medium-low heat. Add sandwich and flip to coat both sides in melted butter. Then let cook for 3-4 minutes per side until the bread is nicely browned and cheese is melted.

5) Serve while warm!

This is a riff on pimento cheese but you can customize the levels of pimento to your liking (I like a lot). Most grocery stores carry pimentos near the olives so you can add as much as you like along with as many jalapenos as you want. It’s a savory and spicy sandwich that would go well with tomato soup.

Ingredients

Directions

1) Cook bacon in a skillet over low heat until it’s crispy. Remove and let cool on a paper towel, then chop.

2) Make grilled cheeses by ripping up a thick slice of Land O Lakes® Deli American (I prefer yellow for this recipe, but white will work also). Distribute cheese evenly over bread. Top with a few tablespoons of guacamole and then crumbled bacon.

Top filling with half a slice of Land O Lakes® Deli American. Rip it up to evenly distribute.

3) Melt about a tablespoon of unsalted butter in a small skillet or a griddle over medium-low heat. Add sandwich and flip to coat both sides in melted butter. Then let cook for 3-4 minutes per side until the bread is nicely browned and cheese is melted.

4) Serve while warm!

Maybe my favorite of the four, personally. It’s slightly more work because you have to cook the bacon first (or use leftover bacon). If you have the time, make your own guac by mashing an avocado with some red onion, lime, and cilantro (keep it simple) or you can use store-bought guac for this grilled cheese.

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